聞く and 尋ねる can both mean asking someone for information; 聞く also means listening.

The idea

The person asked commonly takes に and the information takes を: 先生に意味を聞きます or 先生に意味を尋ねます. Both are natural for questions; 尋ねる makes the act of asking explicit and can sound more formal. 聞く is also used for listening to music.

Patterns to compare
FormExample
聞ききます道みちを聞ききます
尋たずねます道みちを尋たずねます
訪たずねます友達ともだちを訪たずねます

Examples

  • 係かかりの人ひとに道みちを聞ききます。I ask a staff member the way.
  • 先生せんせいに意味いみを尋たずねます。I ask the teacher the meaning.
  • 友達ともだちに時間じかんを聞ききました。I asked a friend the time.
  • 店員てんいんに値段ねだんを尋たずねます。I ask a shop assistant the price.
  • 音楽おんがくを聞きくのが好すきです。I like listening to music.
  • 友達ともだちの家いえを訪たずねます。I visit a friend’s house.

Read-aloud uses a synthetic Japanese voice available on your device. Voice quality and availability vary; it does not assess your pronunciation.

Watch out

Do not confuse 尋ねる “ask” with 訪ねる “visit”: both are pronounced たずねる. 尋ねる is not simply an honorific; choose respectful language separately when needed.

Try it yourself

  1. Choose the verb for listening to music. 音楽おんがくを＿＿。（聞ききます／尋たずねます）

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    聞きます

    聞きます is used to listen to music; 尋ねます means asking or seeking.

  2. Choose the spelling for asking the price. 店員てんいんに値段ねだんを＿＿。（尋たずねます／訪たずねます）

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    尋ねます

    尋ねます means asking the shop assistant the price; 訪ねます means visiting.

  3. Choose the particle marking the person asked. 先生せんせい＿＿意味いみを聞ききます。（に／を）

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    に

    に marks the person being asked, while を marks the information.

Use it today

Ask a teacher the meaning of a word, then describe listening to music and visiting a friend.